Culture

Warning: The following Ted Lasso Season 2 finale recap includes major spoilers for “Ted Lasso” through Season 2.

Season 2 of “Ted Lasso” opens with a closeup of Nathan Shelley’s eyes, the assistant coach watching with youthful enthusiasm as his team earns a late penalty against Nottingham Forest. Season 2 ends with a closeup on Nate, hair turned completely gray, the sparkle completely gone from his eyes. 

Nathan Shelley is now the villain of “Ted Lasso” — he is now the rival coach on Rupert Mannion’s West Ham. Season 3 is gonna be fun. 

To all the Euro snobs out there, to all the haters in the U.S. who think America must replicate every aspect of European football, allow me a counterargument: Whatever the fuck this is.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit how much I watch the show “Survivor.” Ever since the first season, I’ve been a huge fan. All through high school, my Thursday night routine involved getting home from soccer practice and tuning in to “Survivor” with my parents. So now that I hear “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett is working on a competition-based MLS reality show for Major League Soccer, you know I’m excited. 

When actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased fifth-tier Wrexham AFC back in February, they promised to turn the Welsh side into a global force, safeguard the club’s history (it’s the third oldest football team in the world), invest in the women’s squad and redevelop the 157-year-old Racecourse Stadium.

Believe it or not, there exists a population of humans who have never seen a single episode of “Ted Lasso.” If you belong to such a group, let me tell you now is the best time to get into Ted Lasso. 

The UEFA Women’s Champions League returns for its 21st edition on Tuesday, beginning with a first-ever, 16-team group stage. The 2021-22 UWCL is the biggest (20% more games with the group phase), best (UEFA is producing every game for TV or streaming purposes with DAZN and YouTube as global broadcast partners) and most lucrative yet ($29 million redistributed to the women’s game across Europe).

Season 2 of “Ted Lasso” has been building to a crescendo for a while now. Since Episode 208, the hits have kept coming. But the penultimate episode of the season, “Midnight Train To Royston,” felt a bit like a big tease. There were no real major plot revelations and the one new storyline felt forced and awkward. 

It’s officially fall. While others may mark the end of summer via the return of pumpkin spice lattes or the autumnal equinox, real ones know fall doesn’t begin until the new edition of FIFA is released. With FIFA 22’s worldwide release today, I thought I’d share my early thoughts on the latest installment from EA Sports. I’ve been playing FIFA 22 on PS5 this week and have come away mostly impressed but occasionally baffled.